“There’s never been anyone special in my life.”
“Oh well. There’s plenty of time to meet the right woman.” Had she really just said that out loud? She gripped her fingers together on her lap and refused to look at him, but despite the cringe factor this conversation was crazily exciting. It probably had something to do with it being the first time she and Mason hadhada conversation, just the two of them together. Alone…
Stop right there.
“Reckon I met her a while back. No chance of anything happening there.”
“You mean she finished things with you?” In the past he was the one who’d always called the shots. She couldn’t remember him ever seeing the same girl for longer than a week. And she’d been kind of obsessed about checking up on his sex life during those few short months she’d known him, before everything fell apart.
“Can’t finish something that never started.”
Wait.What? Mason Hunter was suffering from unrequited lust? She’d always imagined he only had to look at a girl for her to drop her knickers.
That was five years ago.They’d both changed since then.
“You never know. She might come round in time.” She hoped he couldn’t hear the husky note in her voice. “Maybe she’s just playing hard to get.”
He laughed, as though she’d just cracked a joke. That was the second time she’d made him laugh this afternoon without even trying. He’d hardly ever smiled at anything she said in all the time she was with Colton.
“She doesn’t play games.” There was a warm note in his voice she’d never heard before, and damn if it didn’t make her want to crawl onto his lap and play some games of her own. “I’ll survive.”
“It’s what we do, huh?” The words were out before she could stop them.Oh shit.Sure, her comment could be taken any number of ways. He probably thought she was thinking of Colton. And she probablyshouldbe thinking of Colton.
Except she wasn’t.
“Yeah.” The warmth had vanished. “Life’s a bitch.”
And then you die.
*
“Anywhere along here’sgreat,” Piper said as he turned into her road, and she nodded at a large three story Victorian house with impressive bay windows. It was the kind of house he’d expect her to live in, except this house was divided into flats.
Why the hell was she living as though she was on a limited budget?
“Thanks so much, Mason.” She clutched her small bag on her lap and gave him a shy smile. Just like the first smile she’d ever given him at Halloween, when he’d decided to check out the girl his parents couldn’t stop raving about.
He was used to being compared unfavorably with his brother. But until that moment when he’d looked into Piper’s gorgeous blue eyes, he’d never envied Colton anything.
“Any time.” His voice was gruff. This had been a fucking mistake. “Give me a call if you need any help with your car.” Why had he said that? She didn’t need his help.
She didn’t make a polite response or turn to leave. She stared at him as though he’d just said something riveting. “Do you know much about cars?”
“I should do. I’m a mechanic.”Am I really having this conversation with her?
“Really?” She sounded enthralled. He guessed his parents had never told her their no-good son had finally quit being a delinquent. “Oh, I mean not that it’s such a surprise. You were always working on your bike.”
His family never mentioned his bike. It was the second time Piper had in the space of an hour. Sure, she wasn’t family, but only in name. If his brother hadn’t died that night, she’d be his sister-in-law by now.
“Yeah. I decided if I had to get a legit job it might as well be something I enjoyed.”
She smiled again, as though he’d just said something funny. “I might take you up on that. My car needs a good service. You’ll have to let me know your rates.”
“I’m sure we can work something out.” Jesus. Now he sounded like he’d just propositioned her. Luckily she didn’t appear to share his filthy mind. He dug into his jacket pocket and pulled out a business card. “Here.”
She took the card and stared at it for far longer than it took to read the brief slogan. Her lowered head and the tight braids of her plait were the sexiest damn thing he’d seen in years. He gripped the steering wheel. Asking her out for a drink at the local pub was a bad idea, no matter how much he wanted to.
That’swhyit’s such a bad idea, idiot.
